The well-known gold bug, Peter Schiff, is not one to shy away from his opinions. He has been very vocal about his feelings on the government, markets, and of course, gold. Schiff has been boasting this precious metal for quite some time, as he has listed off a number of factors weighing into a potential bull run. Among those factors are dollar debasement, a struggling economy, and an approaching fiscal cliff that all make the safe haven commodity even more appealing [for more gold news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Gold is one of the rarest metals in the world, and has a long history as a valuable and intensely sought-after element. The precious metal has served as the basis for physical currency for thousands of years, and many monetary systems throughout human history have utilized a gold standard that focused on the precious metal. Exploration and production of gold has become a major industry in regions that maintain significant deposits of the metal, and quests for gold have been the impetus of countless expeditions and discoveries [for more gold news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

The past few weeks have seen a major shake-up in the global economy, as central banks from around the world have taken aggressive actions to try and boost their respective nations. Of course, investors everywhere have been rejoicing as not only have major benchmarks charged forward, but excessive money printing and easing on a mass scale makes a number of assets extremely attractive. One of the best investments to make during a time of currency debasement is gold, as this precious metal has long been one of the most popular safe havens and store of value [for more gold news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Gold is not only one of the most popular commodities in the world, but it is also one of the most widely traded financial instruments. Traders and investors utilize gold for its safe haven behaviors, its speculative power, and its high liquidity given its popularity. Some use futures contracts for gold exposure, while others prefer stocks. But recent years have seen exchange traded funds (ETFs) fall into the mix. These highly liquid and transparent assets have democratized gold investing so that even the smallest of investors can still maintain a healthy exposure to the precious metal. Below, we outline five facts about gold ETFs to help you get a better understanding of these products [see also Were Gold and Silver Manipulated Alongside LIBOR?].

With each passing day there grows more and more speculation that global markets are headed for another downturn. One of the favorite theories of investors and analysts is that all of the bailouts and quantitative easing programs have acted as a cover up for the deep-seeded issues in our economy; once the Federal funding stops, those issues will return to the foreground. As such, a number of individuals are trying to decide how to best play the commodity market for the next financial meltdown. Below, we outline five ETFs to help you profit from the financial world’s demise [for more vital commodity updates subscribe to our free newsletter].

This year saw a surge in popularity for commodity investing. As the years have passed, investors have seen the benefits of investing in the risky, but lucrative asset class. Commodities provide a protection against inflation as well as a low correlation to equities. One of the biggest problems within the industry was the lack of options available to investors just a few years ago. It used to be that only those with a complex futures account were able to add these securities to their portfolios. Now, there are hundreds of products to help even the smallest investor gain access to their favorite commodity investment. Below, we outline all of the commodity exchange traded products that hit the market this year [see also 12 High-Yielding Commodities For 2012].

Gold is one of the rarest metals in the world, and has a long history as a valuable and intensely sought-after element. Gold has served as the basis for physical currency for thousands of years, and many monetary systems throughout human history have utilized a gold standard that focused on the precious metal. Exploration and production of gold has become a major industry in regions that maintain significant deposits of the metal, and quests for gold have been the impetus of countless expeditions and discoveries. The price of the metal is widely followed by many investors, both sophisticated and simplistic. There are a number of different options for investing in gold, including buying up coins and bars of the product, exchange-traded futures contracts, stocks of companies engaged in the extraction and sale of the metal, and both physically-backed and futures-based exchange-traded products [see also The Guide To The Biggest Companies … See the full story here →